I have bad news, everyone. There's still 101 days left of wall-to-wall politics and election coverage. Here to help you sort through the mess is me! your friend Lexie, here to try to give you a guide to all this madness.

This post serves a few purposes. One is to help you figure out what exactly is going on. The second is to help you take all the thoughts and feelings you have pent up inside of you and channel them into taking action. And finally, I'm going to try to encourage everyone engage in reasonable and effective political debates, which is really difficult.

I've seen this come up a few times on social media and around the things: people making impassioned posts about how we CANNOT, we MUST NOT etc. etc. but they just don't know HOW. I'm here to talk to you about what you can actually do! It's very exciting.

A note, before we begin: if you know me, I bet you can guess who I'm supporting this election, but I'm going to tell you right here and now. I'm with Hillary Clinton, and this post is written with that in mind.

The first part of thinking like a campaigner: think backwards from Election Day. That's what we're going to do right here right now.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2016

This date right here, folks, sear it in your mind. That's Election Day, the day when all this is decided. It's also the day that you'll take your most important action.

VOTE!!

Imagine that I am holding your face in my hands, cradling your cheeks in my palms, and I am staring at you with an intensity you have never seen before. I have literally punched a person before because they said, "Oh, I didn't vote" in a flippant tone of voice. So let me repeat myself.

You. Need. To. Vote.

That's it. Voting is the most important direct action you can take. You hear all the time that elections are bought and sold or stolen, but here's the thing -- you still have the right to vote.

Next: You need to make sure your friends and family vote.

For the love of all that is good, make sure you get everyone out to the polls. Give people rides. Organize a trip to the polling place. Harass people over text and social media to make sure they've voted.

In an official capacity, you can volunteer on election day to make sure people get out to vote. Speaking of...

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2016

GOTV operations begin. GOTV means Get Out The Vote (which is less confusing and easier to say, but whatever). This is going to be a crucial time: making sure everyone knows where to vote and has a plan for election day. This weekend is going to be the best time to volunteer.

If you have the means, get thee to a swing state.

The weeks and months between now and November

Make sure you're set to vote:

First of all, make sure you and all of your friends are registered to vote. Make sure you know the laws of your state and county, and get people registered to vote if they are not. Here's how: https://vote.usa.gov/

Are you going to be out of town on election day, perhaps because you'll be volunteering in a swing state? Figure out how to vote early and DO IT.

Get involved locally:

Contact your local campaign office ask how you can volunteer. Can you take a day off and help register voters? Spend an evening at a phone bank? A weekend knocking some doors in your neighborhood?

What are you supposed to say to all these neighbors you're talking to? I have a hunch that this campaign will be less about convincing undecided voters and more about getting people out to vote. That said, think about why you support the candidate you do and come up with a quick story about it. Mine is:

"I support Hillary Clinton because she has worked tirelessly for American families like mine. Her record on health care is spotless and she has the international know-how to keep America safe. Bottom line: there's nobody else in this election who I'd trust to have the nuclear codes."

Yours might be different. What's important is that it's yours and it's true to you. The best way to convince someone is not through broad statements of treason and calling someone a liar, or talking about hate and bile. The best way to convince someone is to calmly and logically make your own case, and then see what's important to them. (Note: we'll come back to this later.)

Don't forget about local races:

Also, and this is really important: educate yourself on the candidates and issues down the ticket as well. Who is your state representative? Are they doing a good job? Who is your state senator? Are there elections for school board this year? Who can you talk to to get informed on those issues? If you want to see changes in policing, in wages, in housing access, in environmental regulations, in small business opportunities, in schools, these are the people who decide those issues. You will not get change without them.

Because I know you probably fancy yourself a political analyst

No matter how many hours pundits on TV fill with air time, no matter what happens in the debates, it all comes down to one thing at the end of the day: who gets the most electoral votes. The websites to play with are as follows:

http://www.270towin.com/

http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2016-election-forecast/

But what's much more important is your action, and not just walking the walk but also talking the talk. How to talk to your friends about politics without ending a friendship:

First, educate yourself and be honest with yourself about why you support the candidate you support.

Second, really seek to understand the other person's argument. Where are they coming from? Are they repeating sound bytes that they've heard over and over? What's their story? This is a really good article about why many Trump supporters feel the way they do: http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/trump-us-politics-poor-whites/

Third, and most important, how to know when to walk away.

Some common things that might come up and how to respond (again, from the perspective of a Hillary supporter):

"I just don't trust her."
~"Why not?"
"She lies."
~"Can you give me an example?"

[Depending on the response, it might be time to walk away. But a good thing to say before you do is something along the lines of: "I feel that she's always been consistent about standing up for American families, and I also feel that someone who has been in the spotlight for 40 years deserves the opportunity to change their mind or have their beliefs grow. Did you know Trump used to be a Democrat and Hillary used to be a Republican? Times change, and people change with them."]

"She's the same as Trump."
~"Why do you say that?"
"She's not liberal enough."
~"So you would prefer her to be more liberal. What are some of the issues you care about?"
"Student debt forgiveness/health care/etc"
~"Do you know where Donald Trump stands on those issues? Frankly, I don't. I've found it hard to pin down where he stands on most issues."

[Here's an opportunity to dig deep into what they care about and talk about the DNC platform as a whole, which was really influenced by Bernie.]

"I want to vote for Trump just to watch it all burn."
~"What do you think that would mean for your family? How long do you think it would take?"

[Revolutions usually suck pretty bad while they're happening.]

"Fuck it, I'm moving to Canada."
~"Do you have a plan to get a visa?"

[In the words of Hari Kondabolu, Canada doesn't have a special visa for American liberal cowards.]

I find that encouraging people to think more deeply about what they say, combined with a healthy dose of knowing when to walk away (don't talk to me about the time I tried to convince a voter for 45 minutes that Obama wasn't the literal antichrist), disarms a lot of political venom. We're going to have that aplenty this cycle, so I encourage you to not engage.

Finally, take your inspiration from the top. Plenty of people have been spouting hate at Hillary her entire career. Do what she did: take that hate and use it to inspire you to work even harder.

I have good news, everyone! We have 101 days until the election. Let's get to work.

Thanks to Emily for being my external brain for this post!